W. Bruce Cameron is the author of the new novel A Dog's Courage. It's a sequel to his novel A Dog's Way Home. He lives in California.
Q: How do you think your character Bella has changed from one book to the next?
A: Like all dogs, Bella has gotten wiser with age.
In A Dog’s Way Home, she was fixated on returning to Lucas and really wasn’t registering the threats and dangers she was encountering as anything but minor obstacles on her way home. She accepted her responsibilities to be an adoptive parent to Big Kitten as just one of those things.
In A Dog’s Courage, she seems much more mindful of the conflicts created for her by her situations.
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: I always know before I begin a novel exactly how it is going to end. This was never true initially; like Bella, I have matured as I’ve gotten older (as a writer, anyway.)
I now understand how critical it is to storytelling to have everything mapped out before a single word is put to paper.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: Bella’s story is one of complete devotion to her people and the animals she loves. I want everyone to understand that this makes our dogs unique: they love us unconditionally, they are devoted to us, they want us to be happy and to be with them.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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